FILE - In a Feb. 26, 2014 file photo, gay couples from left, Cleopatra De Leon and Nicole Dimetman, and Mark Phariss and Victor Holmes, give a news conference in San Antonio after U.S. Federal Judge Orlando Garcia declared a same-sex marriage ban in Texas unconstitutional. A conservative-led coalition in Houston is trying to overturn a gay-rights ordinance approved by the city council in May. Even as same-sex marriage edges closer to becoming legal nationwide, gay-rights advocates face other challenges in 2015 that may not bring quick victories. (AP Photo/San Antonio Express-News, Jerry Lara, File) less

FILE - In a Feb. 26, 2014 file photo, gay couples from left, Cleopatra De Leon and Nicole Dimetman, and Mark Phariss and Victor Holmes, give a news conference in San Antonio after U.S. Federal Judge Orlando ... more

Victor Holmes, left, clutches the hand of partner Mark Phariss as they leave the U.S. Federal Courthouse, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, in San Antonio. District Judge Orlando Garcia said Wednesday he would issue a decision later after the two Texas men filed a civil rights lawsuit seeking permission to marry, and a lesbian couple sued to have their marriage recognized. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) less

Victor Holmes, left, clutches the hand of partner Mark Phariss as they leave the U.S. Federal Courthouse, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, in San Antonio. District Judge Orlando Garcia said Wednesday he would issue a ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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File - In the Feb. 12, 2014 file photo, Victor Holmes, left, and partner Mark Phariss, right, arrive at the U.S. Federal Courthouse, in San Antonio, where a federal judge is expected to hear arguments in a lawsuit challenging Texas' ban on same-sex marriage. Republican attorneys general across the U.S. are fighting court rebukes of same-sex marriage bans in their states. But Texas' Greg Abbott is doing so against extraordinary personal ties: Phariss, one of the gay men challenging the law here is an old friend. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File) less

File - In the Feb. 12, 2014 file photo, Victor Holmes, left, and partner Mark Phariss, right, arrive at the U.S. Federal Courthouse, in San Antonio, where a federal judge is expected to hear arguments in a ... more

Photo: Eric Gay, STF

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Couples Cleopatra De Leon, front left, and partner, Nicole Dimetman, and Victor Holmes, back left, and partner Mark Phariss leave the Federal Courthouse in San Antonio on Wednesday.

Couples Cleopatra De Leon, front left, and partner, Nicole Dimetman, and Victor Holmes, back left, and partner Mark Phariss leave the Federal Courthouse in San Antonio on Wednesday.

Photo: Eric Gay, STF

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Supreme Court brief dredges up Rick Perry comment on gay veterans

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The nearly 100 plaintiffs challenging gay marriage bans in 15 states on Friday made an impassioned plea to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the justices to end the practice of treating homosexual couples like second-class citizens by extending them the right to legally wed.

The brief was filed on behalf of 92 plaintiffs, including Mark Phariss and Victor Holmes, a gay couple challenging Texas' ban on same-sex marriage.

Submitted the day after the Supreme Court announced it would consider the issue on April 28, the 77-page brief says upholding tradition cannot trump upholding the citizens' constitutional rights; it adds the high court, not state legislatures or ballot boxes, is the correct place to decide the issue since most states with bans in place show no signs of change.

"The continuing hostile environment in some places has revealed many state officials' unapologetic animus toward gay men and lesbians," the brief states.

"When asked what he would tell gay and lesbian veterans returning to Texas from the Iraq war, then-Governor Rick Perry responded, 'Texas has made a decision on marriage, and if there's a state with more lenient views than Texas, then maybe that's where they should live."

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Perry made the comment in 2005 after a speech at the Calvary Cathedral International Church in Fort Worth, when he was asked what he would tell homosexual veterans returning to a state that recently had added a ban on gay marriage to its Constitution.

"If the Supreme Court does not now rule against same-sex marriage bans, marriage equality will not come to many states for a long time," said Phariss.

"As one who has been in a long-term relationship for almost 18 years and wants to marry the person I love, who also happens to be a veteran and retired Major of the U.S. Air Force and who served our country for almost 23 years, that is not acceptable."

Phariss and Holmes, along with Austin couple Nicole Dimetman and Cleopatra DeLeon, are challenging Texas' gay marriage ban in court. Their case currently is before the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, but the ultimate decision on gay marriage will come from the high court.

In late February, two Austin women together for more than 30 years married in what was called Texas' first valid gay marriage. Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked the state Supreme Court to invalidate the couple's license.

On March 6, Texas voters will decide who will carry the Democratic party's mantle into the battle for governor and a slew of other statewide offices. Click here for full coverage of the primary elections. Find our voters guide here.